Well, I must disagree with Paul and Ann. In photography, we are challenged in reducing 3 dimensions into 2. Johnson does the opposite, taking a two-dimensional image and translating it into three. This involves imagining everything on the side of the subject we cannot see, and making it all balance and "work". His skill at doing this is especially apparent in his smaller pieces, and especially those displayed indoors at the Grounds for Sculpture.
Go have a look before you dismiss it as kitsch. The guy has something to say, and does it with imagination, whimsy, and astonishing craftsmanship. Rick http://photo.net/photos/RickW On Mon, Dec 15, 2014 at 8:47 PM, Ann Sanfedele <[email protected]> wrote: > To clarify - I dislike all those works of Seward Johnson's that take iconic > images and reproduce them in this manner. (I actually like the > LIFE photo as a photo-journalistic grab shot and it certainly expressed > the spirit of the day. My personal memory of that day is sharing a > glass of champagne with a chihuahua - something neither of us should have > been doing - but on that day odd things were permitted. > > I'd call Lik's pic -schlock- rather than -kitsch- off the top of my head, > could go either way on Johnson's great big mistakes. > > This is all from my gut, not from a dictionary mind you. > > Somehow I'm not offended by extreme sendups of truly great and serious works > of art if they are playfully done and show a kind of originality of their > own. (E.g. the take-off of Hopper's Nightbirds with Bogart, Dean, Marilyn > works for me.) > > Johnson's stuff doesn't have those qualities. > > ann > > > On 12/14/2014 16:34, Bob W-PDML wrote: >> >> I don't know if ann finds the statue offensive for the reason that others > > > have suggested the original photo is offensive, but I think all of those > statues are > > offensive because they're kitsch, as is the photo of the canyon that sold > for several million dollars. >> >> >> Coincidentally Roger Scruton has been writing a (very, very poor) > > > series of articles on the BBC about Art with a capital A, and today he > discusses kitsch: >> >> >> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30439633 >> >> I think his historical claims are wrong, but he describes kitsch quite >> well. >> >> He promises to reveal to us next time how to tell kitsch from Shinola, so >> that should bring down photography prices pretty sharpish. >> >> B >> >> >>> On 14 Dec 2014, at 19:47, John <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> If I knew, I wouldn't have to ask. >>> >>>> On 12/13/2014 6:55 PM, Ann Sanfedele wrote: >>>> If ya have to ask, ya don't know :-) >>>> >>>> ann >>>> >>>>> On 12/13/2014 14:50, John wrote: >>>>> What about it makes it offensive? >>>>> >>>>>> On 12/12/2014 9:49 PM, Ann Sanfedele wrote: >>>>>> Am I the only one that finds the sculptures a little offensive? >>>>>> >>>>>> I know the _photo_ well, Dan - the one Alfred Eisenstadt shot for LIFE >>>>>> Magazine - and I actually saw back then as my parents subscribed to >>>>>> both >>>>>> LIFE and LOOK. (I was almost 9 years old on VJ day...) >>>>>> >>>>>> I think the world's largest cow in... (is it NORTH Dakota?) fares well >>>>>> in comparison :-) >>>>>> >>>>>> ann >>>>>> >>>>>>> On 12/12/2014 00:40, Daniel J. Matyola wrote: >>>>>>> Like many of Seward Johnson's sculptures, it is based on a great work >>>>>>> of art, in this case an iconic photo. >>>>>>> The sculpture was displayed on Times Square for a while. >>>>>>> Dan Matyola >>>>>>> http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/danieljmatyola >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> On Thu, Dec 11, 2014 at 11:18 PM, Ann Sanfedele <[email protected]> >>>>>>> wrote: >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Like the shot, hate the sculpture - >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> ann >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> On 12/11/2014 21:49, Rick Womer wrote: >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> A runner-up for this month's PUG, also from the Grounds for >>>>>>>>> Sculpture in >>>>>>>>> central New Jersey: >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=17922124 >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> (K-5, DA 16-45) >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Comments appreciated! >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Rick >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> -- >>>>>>>> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >>>>>>>> [email protected] >>>>>>>> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >>>>>>>> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above >>>>>>>> and >>>>>>>> follow the directions. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>> >>> -- >>> Science - Questions we may never find answers for. >>> Religion - Answers we must never question. >>> >>> -- >>> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >>> [email protected] >>> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >>> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and >>> follow the directions. >> >> > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and > follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
